


Shatter

by Adventures_in_Writing



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: M/M, RvB season 13 spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-10
Updated: 2015-10-10
Packaged: 2018-04-25 16:44:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4968529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adventures_in_Writing/pseuds/Adventures_in_Writing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With adrenaline pumping through his veins as their enemies slammed against the door that was surely going to cave in soon, he barely even had time to acknowledge the shiver that ran down his spine.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shatter

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt received on [ my Tumblr](http://an-adventure-in-writing.tumblr.com/): I kind of really need something sad-yet-almost-fluffy where Wash is comforting Tucker after the events of 'The End'. Like, Epsilon killed himself while he was still in Tucker's mind, he would have /felt/ it when it happened. And Wash has been through that before kinda. So idk they made it out of the battle and killed Hargrove and then the pelican got there and Tucker finally snapped and ran to Wash (idk you're allowed to gloss over plotty stuff.)

* * *

Tucker knew that adrenaline and the pure drive for survival could overcome virtually anything. He knew that in the thick of battle they were the only things that could keep you going.

Even if your comrades fell.

With adrenaline pumping through his veins as their enemies slammed against the door that was surely going to cave in soon, he barely even had time to acknowledge the shiver that ran down his spine.

“Ain’t that a bitch? ” The question was whispered in his mind and ghosted through his whole being a nanosecond before a brief piercing stab of pain at the base of his skull that quickly spread like a spiderweb through his mind as the door was kicked in.

A multitude of voices spoke to him, voices he recognised from a while ago and voices he’d never heard before. He didn’t have time to dwell on the fact that he could hear Omega from somewhere inside his head saying that Tucker could use the flipped table to their advantage as a shield. Gary’s easily recognisable computerised voice cut through the noise of battle, stating that if they used the temporal distortion enhancement they could go back to before this all happened and prevent it from happening. A calm voice told Tucker of an enemy taking aim at Grif before stating that perhaps the middle of battle wasn’t the best time to be testing equipment that they might not be able to run properly.

“Just do what you can,” Tucker said, trying to focus on what was happening, choosing to ignore the wet trails he could feel on his cheeks, the stinging in his eyes, the lingering pain in his mind and the heavy feeling in his heart that something was horribly wrong with all this.

There would be time to think about it once they all made it out of here alive.

*****

If anyone asked him what had happened, he honestly wouldn’t be able to tell them. The battle was a blur. He’d been running on adrenaline and desperation the entire time which had left him feeling lost, like he’d been outside looking in, just a bystander observing. It wasn’t anything he’d experienced before and whilst he sat in the back of the pelican that had picked them up he tried to piece together the things he could recall. The pelican jolted slightly as it touched down and as the hatch opened, it suddenly came back to him: the chill down his spine and the moment of searing pain. Tucker stumbled a little with the intensity of the memory, dropping his helmet and gripping tightly to the side of the ship to stay standing. His heart raced and his throat felt tight and the pain in his head increased.

Washington noticed that Tucker hadn’t left the pelican yet and made his way to the ship, carefully walking up the ramp to get inside. He didn’t want to startle Tucker if he wasn’t doing so well after the battle.

_Ain’t that a bitch?_

“Church?” he asked, his voice just above a whisper. He told himself that Church sometimes took a few moments to flicker into view, especially after running something complex. The silence dragged on and a small, child-like voice whispered.

“We’re so sorry,”

The sound that tore from him was something between an angry shout and an anguished cry. He slid to the floor, his head resting in his hands as he tried to hold back the tears with a yell. Tucker knew now that the web of pain he felt was Church shattering into pieces, into fragments of himself. That the chill that had run along his spine was the moment that he had let go, that he had forgotten ‘Epsilon’ and became something else. The fragments that remained were memories of the memories and although it was difficult to accept, they were all that remained of his friend.

“Tucker?” Wash asked, coming to kneel beside him. “Tucker it’s okay, you’re home.”

There was something about the way that Tucker was acting, something about the sound of his cries and the way he held his head that sparked a memory inside. Whilst Tucker wasn’t screaming in agony, Wash knew.

“Oh, Tucker…” he sighed as he pulled Tucker into a tight hug. Wash could understand what Tucker was going through but unlike how things went for him with Epsilon, the AI was Tucker’s friend. For Wash, the worst thing about his implantation with Epsilon was how his mind shattered, how Epsilon dumped all of its memories into him and filled all the cracks. For Tucker, Epsilon would have taken more care, but the fact still remained: Church died inside his friend’s mind. There was no gentle way to do that and Tucker would feel the echoes for a long, long time.

Tucker clung to Wash as he replayed the moment that his best friend had died over and over in his mind. He tried to convince himself that someway or another Church would always come back, but deep down inside he knew that this time he wouldn’t be returning. If he did, he wouldn’t be the same Church that they all knew.

_Ain’t that a bitch?_

If anyone heard Tucker’s shouts from the pelican, if anyone wondered what had taken them so long to finally emerge with Wash carrying Tucker in his arms, they said nothing.


End file.
